“Don’t stop,” he whispers. “I just need to examine Elowyn.”
With a nod, Grandmera returns to reading, and Elowyn sighs as she lets Tharios probe her again.
Soon, the fable ends, and Grandmera closes the book. “That’s enough for now. Perhaps we can continue later.”
“How are you feeling?” Tharios asks Elowyn.
“Tired, though my arm is better. I can move it again.”
“Good.”
“Rominy refuses to get me more coffee until you permit it, and I’m not sure I like him anymore.”
“She says that to you, but every time she tries to say it to me, she can’t, so I’m pretty sure that’s a lie.” Rominy grins as he brushes Elowyn’s hair back from her forehead.
Judging by the way Elowyn is curled up against Rominy, it’s a lie of epic proportions, and Tharios smiles.
“I’m certain it’s a lie. And I already asked for coffee to be included with your lunch tray, which should be delivered soon. So you can stop giving Rominy the evil eye. He’s doing better following my instructions than you ever do.”
Elowyn makes a face at Tharios, and he crosses his arms.
“I can drink the coffee myself if you’re going to be a goose about it,” he tells her.
Her eyes grow wide, and she shakes her head. “I’m being good. I promise.”
“Tell it to Rominy.”
When Elowyn hesitates, Tharios grins.
“That’s exactly what I thought,” he says.
But she’s trying. He knows she’s trying. She’s endured a lot, and she’s permitted a bit of frustration in response.
Their food is soon delivered and consumed, including Elowyn’s coffee, which she happily drowns in more cream and sugar before sipping. Eventually, even the natural rush brought on by the coffee beans isn’t enough to keep her eyes open. As she droops beside Rominy, he gently pries the half-full mug from her hand, and she doesn’t protest. Hopefully, when she wakes, she’ll remember it was Rominy rather than Tharios who took it from her.
The afternoon turns to evening as Gerault lingers near his wife and children, and Rominy leaves the bed to sit with his family at the table across the room. They talk and laugh through dinner and beyond, and when Elowyn wakes again, Rominy carries her to the table to join them as she curls up in his lap with a blanket wrapped around her to keep her warm.
You’d almost think he had a bit of Lothlesi blood running through his veins with how little he seems to care about his mother’s shock at his actions.
Even Arisanna almost knocks over her tea as Rominy wraps his arms around Elowyn right in front of them.
Clearly, Rominy’s priorities shifted when he almost lost Elowyn. When he almost died alongside her.
“You are not needed here tonight,” Grandmera says softly near Tharios’s ear as he watches Cerian sit at Arisanna’s side. Cerian rarely joins the laughter, but he doesn’t scowl, either. Occasionally, Arisanna’s smiles draw out Cerian’s, and Tharios just shakes his head. Who would have guessed a human princess could have such a profound effect on Cerian?
“Are you ignoring me, Tharios Westaria?” Grandmera asks, and that gets his attention. Is she planning to strangle him with his own vines if he doesn’t rest again?
“I would never ignore you, Grandmera.”
“Indeed. You value your life too much.”
He grins at that. “My thoughts exactly.”
“Which is why I know you will listen when I instruct you to go exist apart from all this for a night.”
He definitely walked into that trap.
“How long has it been since you spoke to your binding partner?” Grandmera asks, and his smile fades. He hasn’t seen Viala in hours. Not since they showed Mr. Gorming the honeymoon suite.
